Friday

A slow AM here and then our family went to Abilene to Eisenhower Center. The young ones have never been there & I don’t think I have for at least 15 years. Followed Dad & Greg who dropped off the car at Crossroads Collision to have the rear door handle repaired, then the 3 of us drove to Abilene to meet the others.

A slow-paced cloudy day, but mostly dry (the weather I like best)! Went thru the visitor center, watched the movie, went thru the house and then the museum. Fascinated by the Fallout Shelters. I remember these yellow & black circular signs at school (back in the 60’s) and some public buildings, but they didn’t talk much about them while I was at school. Glad the paranoia of atomic bombs had died down by then. Also saw some old commercials from the late 50’s and similar to what I remember as a very young boy. Saw a 1945 GE stove exactly like Grandma had in the old house. The Eisenhower stuff didn’t interest me all that much. Skipped the library.

Then it was Dad & I back to Crossroads and discussed old times and also end of life stuff (such as where all the important documents are, etc etc). Also told me how his boyhood home was arranged, before remodeling projects & where items were located.

The car wasn’t ready, so met the rest at the Mall & ate in the food court. I had Sbarro pizza. Then went on home to cont on tax stuff. The rest watched Ratatouille (first showing was today). Going over all my 2006 documents & making sure everything is accounted for & filed. Almost ready to efile my tax return. Then I hope to get Paul & Eliz tax return finished before they leave for CO. These 2 tax returns are some of the most involved & difficult ones I do. Going to bed early tonight.

mikey

Thursday

Woke up at 6:45AM of all things!!! Sent off Jean & Jake with a big breakfast that only my mother can prepare & then it was time to continue on my tax things & went over my Quicken file one more time & made one minor adjustment. Didn’t change the tax amount because of Sch J, income averaging. Spent all day on my tax forms.

Had leftovers from last night which hit the spot so I could cont on my stuff all PM. Grandpa even played baseball with Eric this afternoon. Eric only does baseball these days, lowly softball is a thing of the past.

Went to Salina to Wendy’s for the weekly old car show. Saw a black 57 Chev and the young ones were fascinated that Grandma drove a car like that when I was small, exc it was sky blue and a more toned down style than the fancy BelAir. A guy there called it a Chev 210 whatever that means. Also saw a Dodge Charger similar to one Eliz drove & also her grandmother drove even before that! Stayed around till the group left for Lindsborg & then Dad went to his Gideons meeting & we all went home.

Then it was time for Eric to play baseball with uncle mike and he actually caught several. Baseballs are easier for me to catch than softballs. Went for a long walk later. A good day.

mikey

Wednesday

Slept in till 11:30AM & hurried up to Salina to meet the rest of the family at Ponderosa just off I-70. Grandma was there & provided us all a great meal. She is doing remarkably well lately and glad for that. Lots of activity there, one piece of fried catfish was still flopping around and very nearly made it to the floor, courtesy of one particular young lady!

Eric rode home with me and of course I took a different route and he was worried we wouldn’t get home, but he finally saw the familiar silos and was relieved to be in familiar territory again.

Worked on a custom cutter tax return & made a successful attempt to call about 4PM. They’re in Garden City & were stopped for the day due to rain. 40 bushel wheat in that area! Got lots of answers I was looking for.

Jean Meinzer & her son Jake (about age 17) stopped in about 6PM for the night and the activity level in the house doubled again! Jake is going to check out my old college stomping grounds at Tabor tomorrow. They are close friends of Eliz and family & also live by Rush CO. With the assistance of Eric we managed to place a certain substance in Jake’s sleeping bag. A substance Jeff Nisly might remember. The only problem is we don’t have dogs in the house to perform the necessary maneuver. Nevertheless…..it DID have the desired effect, much to my delight & Eric’s!!

A slow rain most of the day & just stayed home to hang out with everyone here.

mikey

Tuesday

Spent the morning just doing things at home. Angie brought Matthew (age 2) over and joined us for dinner & Mark came in over the Noon hour also. All 4 young ones rode in (and drove) the combine with Mark. Wheat harvest finished today with an overall yield of 12 bu to the acre. Very average for this area for 2007. Kudos to both Carl & Mark for completing this yearly job! And finished just in time before the rains came down.

A fairly quiet day at work, but training a new RN & another agency RN, so there was a bit of adjustment that way. Also priviliged to work with a new agnecy RN who is familiar with Lyme’s disease (her son stricken with that many years ago). Learned all kinds of new things.

Shoulder a bit more painful the last few days, but still able to cope with it.

mikey

Monday

A long boring day. Lots of cleaning, straightening & getting things ready for my sister & family to come for a week. A boring day UNTIL…..the arrival time of 6PM & then things changed quickly. Enjoying all the activity & having a full house.

Also got a good start on yet another unfinished tax return. A wheat farmer, so it probably wouldn’t be a good time to bother him with those questions just yet.

Wheat harvest is close to finished so several went to the field to see what’s going on there. I opted not to go so I could remain among the breathing. Not in the mood for a major asthma attack.

Getting the rest of the week lined out & lots of things going on.

mikey

Sunday

SS on Rev ch 2, but just on the 1st 3 Churches. Lots of visitors due to the Melvin Yoder reunion. Clayton Weaver (husband of dau Anna) had the sermon. Also, oldest son Calvin had the opening. To our horror he mentioned he hasn’t spent a Sunday in Church in years. He does spend Sunday at prison (as chaplain in Iowa).

Counted with Keith & this went very smoothly, always nice to match first time thru. Then it was off to Marvin’s for a surprise BD party for Jacob. Actually he had invited me there last night, so I think it really was a surprise. Attendees: Marvin’s family exc Josh who is due home shortly, Ryan, David Yutzy, Seth Yutzy, Josh Tosten & myself. Hot dogs, beans & potatoes on the menu to everyone’s delight. The ENTIRE afternoon was spent lazying around in the living, dozing & talking the day away. My kind of Sunday PM. I did walk to the RR tracks with MJ & Jordan so I could work up a sweat for my next social activity. It was fun & good

Went to “the cabin” and few there, but did talk to Josh & Lovell in the field & watch flying RC planes & gliders. Then went to Center for the final event of the reunion. Good to meet Hadassa’s husband, Carlin Beiler. His father is Phil & he had meetings at Center at least 10 years ago & I was privileged to take him to the Salina airport for his flight home & got some one-on-one talk time with this dedicated servant of God.

Ice cream & chips & brownies to top off the day & then singing in the sanctuary. This brought back a lot of happy memories from many years ago. Even tho things worked out as they did I have always been welcomed & felt a part of this family anyway. Praise God!

mikey

Saturday

Happy Birthday Jacob!!!   15 great years of living as of today (Sunday)

A stay at home day, including cleaning and straightening up for the arrival of my sister and family for just over a week starting Monday. Looking forward to it!

Also did some Quicken & Quickbooks entry as that has been neglected a great deal. Think I’m caught up with my stuff, including my tax mileage log.

Wheat harvest moving right along. The Sippel land to the south in McPherson County yielding 30 bushels, a bumper harvest for this area in 2007. So far all the Saline County land has yilded 10 or less. I do not participate in this long awaited event due to my severe anaphylactic reactions to wheat dust. Don’t think it would be helpful since I would require immediate ER assistance if I would join the festivities. No time for that.

Had a call from John & went to Richards to take Jim’s things to his place. Getting ready for sale on July 7. They have been doing a great job getting the property ready for auction. Richard has chosen not to do chemo and has spent some time at Sheila’s before he’s ready to go to his new house in Moundridge.

Then it was off to Hutch for a meal with 2 friends of mine at IHOP. A sort of farewell for one of these good friends of mine. Dropped the stuff off at Jim’s place & headed on home, but was greeted with a welcome phone call from Jacob just 2 miles from home & heard all about his busy life. Sounds like his oldest bro will be arriving home shortly from international travels.

Time for slumber, but not till I study the 2nd exciting chapter of Rev for SS!

mikey

Friday

Slept in today & that was refreshing. Wheat harvest going full speed ahead, and full speed ahead is exactly what it is. Not much usable grain, so the combines are moving at a rapid clip. 10 bushel wheat is a bumper crop in these parts. One field made 5. Guess we’ll take what we get and be thankful!

Mailed several letters & items at the PO and quite a few needed to be weighed. Also dropped off 2 toner cartridges at UPS to be recycled so the green people should be happy with me.

Picked up Jim at 7PM sharp at work & headed to a lake deep in the flint hills for a party. Just got back a short time ago. A very good time tonight, esp so since Jim rec his first paycheck from Viega. First full day of summer & it sure felt like it. I really like hot weather so that was fine with me.

mikey

Thursday-Wheat Harvest starts

First day of wheat harvest here and some had started yesterday already. Evidently there is some wheat out there as there ARE trucks loaded with grain. Too early to tell what it will be like since the best is harvested first.

Today is summer solstice and think I’m ready for the days to start getting shorter again. Not a good feeling when the sun rises before I get to bed.

Lots of ER’s tonight and the last one came by EMS & was an admit. Summer camp at Tabor always provides various kinds of emergencies and this year is no different. Put some admission packets together so that meant more time on my feet. I do like this job, much more pleasing than some other tasks I get to do.

A good routine day.

mikey

Wednesday

Payroll day and went well, but had a lot of other odds & ends to do. Finished a big tax return & hope to get that delvired tonight.

Went to Hutch via Buhler so I could pick up cuz Steve’s sales tax info. Found the needed bank statement in the mailbox after a bit of searching in the house. Glad it had arrived. Alas, this made me late for Church. Only got in on the last part of Lester Yutzy’s topic on Joseph. Next, Brian Shenk had a topic on Deborah. Also included the memorable incident involving Ehud & King Eglon of Moab!

Both topics helpful and good to review some OT happenings. A carryin afterwards & I got acquainted with Victor Kaufman who just moved into the neighborhood at Hiromi’s. Sporting a cast on his left arm and hopes to have that removed soon.

Got the big tax return signed sealed and delivered. Later a very upbeat cheerful phone call which lifted my spirits a great deal. Praise God!

mikey